Zutto, Soba Ni Itte By my side, always
by imotaku2
Summary: Yumi has a new responsibility. Her petite soeur Touko-chan. She finds herself in the position of the grand onee-sama. The senior setting an example for her junior classmen. But where is Sachiko-sama?
1. Where we are now

Disclaimaa!

I DON'T own any of the Mariamite character's (except sachiko, i make sure she gets her 3 meals) jk, unfortunately.

Hey! I can dream! Tis why I'm here! I am also not held responsible if I disturb or permanently damage any person with my HIDEOUS grammar and spelling of french words. What's with that anyway?? Souer, Soeur, Soooeeeaa! (I googled it to be sure...)

Huzzah! Exciting, exciting! Possibly terrifying! I've read almost every maria-sama fan-fic I could find. Here, and on other sites. This story is my first. Very very first! Scary huh? (For you!) You've all been here! Be gentle!! Be very very gentle!

Well I hope ya like it! I've been a fan of maria-mite from the beginning and have an almost unhealthy crush on Sachiko...*cough*

DON"T JUDGE ME!!

I can take constructive criticism, but only so much LOL!

Enjoy!

* * *

Yumi lifted her head just as the school bell rang. _She's late again. _

She looked at her watch.

_We'll both be in trouble at this rate!_ She looked up at Maria-sama then back to her watch. _Why does she keep doing this to me?? Does she WANT me to get detention? _Letting out a deep sigh, Yumi bent over and picked up her satchel. She'd already been told off on many occasions for being late to class. _And I'm a senior now! _She thought to herself. It couldn't be helped, she turned to walk towards the school building when she heard racing footsteps behind her. _I wonder who that could be?_ She rolled her eyes and turned to see a scruffy, baggy-eyed girl running towards her. Her pigtails were tangled and hairs flew astray in the wind as she ran towards Yumi. She was red in the face with a look of desperation and pleading eyes begging yet again for forgiveness.

"Yuuuuumiii!!! Gomen gomen!!"

The girl reached Yumi and bent over, she was clearly exhausted and gasping for air as she tried to catch her breath. When she had calmed her breathing she slowly lifted her head, squinting one eye in the sunlight and looked at Yumi.

"I said gomen!"

Yumi stared blankly at her.

"Hey! I apologized! The least you could do is show some manners!"

She stamped her foot aggressively and turned her nose up in the air.

"Late _again _Touko?"

Yumi smiled affectionately and ruffled her soeur's hair. Not that it made a difference.

"You're….you're not angry?"

Touko stared suspiciously at Yumi as she smiled, looking her up and down.

"Not at all. In fact I was just thinking…you certainly do remind me of myself when I was your age" She chuckled as she reached forward to fix her soeur's hair.

"Your age? Ha! Yumi don't make me laugh! You're not that much older than me!"

Yumi retracted her hand and stared Touko.

"No. But you're my soeur now. And I'm your onee-sama. Not that you ever call me by that name anyway. Hold this"

She handed Touko her satchel and reached forward to take Touko's scarf in her hand.

She felt a sudden pain in her chest. Her ears began humming.

_["Motte"_

_Yumi looked down and took the older students bag. _

"_You should tie your scarf…in a proper knot…"_

_Yumi stared at the older student flabbergasted. She was just…beautiful._

"_Maria-sama is watching_"]

"Yumi! …..YUMI!!!"

_["Gokigenyou"_

_She watched as her senior walked away, her long silky hair blowing graciously in the wind._

"_Go…gokige…genyou! Arigatou Gozaimasu!!"_

_The lady turned, and smiled at Yumi. A perfect smile. Her blue eye's gleaming in the morning sun.]_

_Rosa chinesis en bouton…!_

"ARGH! ONEE-SAMA!!"

Yumi stared at Touko, she could see her lips moving, but she couldn't hear her voice. Only Sachiko's. She couldn't feel Touko shaking her. Only Sachiko's touch as she brushed her chest when she tied her scarf.

_Onee-sama…_

"Moshi moshi!! Yumi….anybody home?"

Yumi forced a smile for her petite soeur.

"Gomen, Touko-chan, I just…gomen"

"Are you okay? You looked like you where in another place there for a second. You had me worried."

_I was. And I wish I could go back to that place. Everything was so much more complicated. But made so much more sense. I realized how much everything had meant to me. And now it was too late. The Rose mansion as I had known it would never be the same again. She was gone. And I was too late to tell her…Onee-sama…_

"Onee-sama I think you should go to the nurse, you aren't yourself today."

Yumi forced, yet again, another smile for her petite soeur.

"I'm fine Touko, really I am."

"What's on your mind?"

It had worked, Touko didn't look as concerned as before.

"I just realized…."

"…."

"Hey! You ran!"

Touko looked down at her watch and her eyes went wide.

"WHOOO! Look at that time. Gonna be late! Gotta get to class. Onee-sama you're gonna be late too"

Yumi rolled her eyes.

"No thanks to a certain soeur who stays up all night reading fan-ficiton! You have panda eyes…unruly child…"

Touko smiled and linked arms with her onee-sama as they walked towards the school building.

"What's the big deal anyway?"

'Whaaat? Are you kidding me?? It's a way for authors to express their creativity and connect with other people through their works of art!"

"Art huh?" Yumi snorted purposefully.

"As a matter of fact, yes. Also it's a great way to give minor characters the credit they deserve!"

"If you say so"

"I know a certain onee-sama that deeply encouraged her underclassmen to practice creative writing and different ways of expressing themselves!"

Touko's eyes flashed. She could be bitchy when she wanted to. And she wanted to. Yumi was imitating her onee-sama and it was getting on Touko's nerves. _She won't let it go. She won't let HER go…_

Yumi clenched her teeth. Her chest hurt again. It felt like her heart was swelling and would burst at any moment. _Be safe onee-sama. Wherever you are. I'm waiting for you. I'll always be waiting…_

_

* * *

  
_

Aren't I the mean one! I guess I should put this as an intro instead of a chapter come to think of it....

Apologies minna-san! I wanted to make a few things clear at the beginning, Touko's lack of obedience (For comedy's sake) Sachiko's absence, and Yumi's heartache as she misses her onee-sama and attempts to console herself by trying to BE the Sachiko onee-sama that she once had. Strange ne?

Alas a short preview but hopefully a taster of things to come! I hope you liked it I! will do my utmost to make sure I update, update, update.

Cuz hey....if I can spend time reading all your fanfics, I can spend the time writing no?

Write soon!

imotaku2 xx


	2. Lost Communications

Disclaimaa!

I DON'T own any of the Mariamite characters (except sachiko, i make sure she gets her 3 meals) jk, unfortunately.

Hey! I can dream! Tis why I'm here! I am also not held responsible if I disturb or permanently damage any person with my HIDEOUS grammar and spelling of french words. What's with that anyway?? Souer, Soeur, Soooeeeaa! (I googled it to be sure...)

Huzzah! Exciting, exciting! 2nd chapter! I tore myself away from work for an update. Also pretty much planned out the next 2 chapters during my sleepless night (stupid blizzard) and during boooring boring work.

I can take constructive criticism, but only so much LOL!

Enjoy!

* * *

When Yumi reached her classroom she groaned inwardly to herself, on the other side of the door she could hear her teachers muffled voice. _Crap! _It sounded like he was calling the register. Had he got to her name yet?

She quietly opened the door to the classroom a tiny crack and peered in. Only the students closest to her turned their heads towards the distraction. She put her finger in front of her lips indicating for them not to acknowledge her. When the teacher had turned his back to write something on the blackboard, Yumi quietly snuck in ducking low as she made her way towards her seat.

"Nice of you to join us Fukuzawa" The teacher put down the chalk and purposefully turned slowly, knowing he had stopped her in her tracks. _Here it comes._

"_Ten _minutes, Miss Fukuzawa. That's late. Even by your standards" Yumi heard stifled giggles from some of her classmates. She felt the blood rising to her cheeks as her heart rate picked up.

"Gomennasai sensei, something came up that required my urgent attention. My sincerest apologies. It won't happen again." She tried her best, 'You can believe me because I'm a responsible adult' look. Her teacher however, wasn't having any of it.

"To your seat" He pointed in the direction just to humiliate her further. She didn't care. She'd managed to just about squeeze out of that one. She was going to kill Touko at lunch.

Yumi was her usual self throughout class. Bored, fazed out and clearly not paying any attention to her lesson in the slightest. She alternated between counting the tiles on the ceiling to staring out of the window at a pretty standard gingko tree, that had held more of her attention in the past five minutes than her teacher had had all year.

"Fukuzawa!" Yumi's head shot up to search for the owner of the voice that had bellowed out her name. No need. Her teacher was glaring at her, his face quickly becoming a shade of darker crimson with each passing second.

"Continue please" Yumi looked down at her English language book in front of her. She had lost track about 20 minutes ago. She looked up slightly embarrassed to her teacher.

"Sorry sir, I….lost track a moment ago…." She watched him walk behind his desk and search eagerly in one of his drawers. They all knew what was coming next. Yumi was used to it by now, no thanks to Touko. When he had found what he was looking for he marched down to Yumi's table and slammed a slip of paper in front of her. He quickly signed his name and added a time.

"It would be _very _wise to make it on time Miss Fukuzawa, I may not be here after school hours today but I _will_ be checking with the assigned teacher tomorrow. Understood?" Yumi looked at him sheepishly.

"Yyyeess sir…." The teacher looked up at the students around him. They all turned their eyes quickly back to their books, some mumbling pretending to read on. He looked back at Yumi for one last glare before he walked back to the front of the classroom.

"Let's see…." He scanned a timetable beside his register. "Ah! There we go! Mizuki-san will be taking…_detention_ today" He had to emphasize that for the class didn't he? Not that they didn't already know what the slip was for. Most students dread the sight of them.

_Detention_

_How the hell did I get here? Another detention! What would the others say? Actually… they'd probably scold Touko-chan and tell her to stop getting me into trouble! ARGH! This is frustrating! It's always me… _Yumi looked around her, taking in her surroundings. _Smaller classroom than usual… less seats. _Good to know that discipline was obviously having some kind of positive effect on the pupils. She sighed and looked up at the clock on the wall in front of her. Her detention was for 4.30. It was not 4.48 and there was still no sign of Miss Mizuki. Yumi was getting impatient but she knew she couldn't leave. There was no way she was going to give her teachers any more ammunition to fire at her with. _Guess I just have to sit and wait it out._ She searched through her bag searching for her third period homework.

_Elsewhere…_

Ja..pa..ne..se… Sachiko typed slowly, her eyes heavy from her long day of classes. It was her own fault she'd taken on more than she could handle although she would never admit to it. She had a two hour gap before she had to attend her night seminars and already she felt like she could sleep. Classes were for ten hours a day, five days a week. She didn't have class on weekends but that didn't mean she had it free. No, she still had to work her ass off. She wasn't going to settle for any mark in her finals. She had always been the best, the elite. Now was not the time to let her grades slip due to fatigue. She glared at the fuzzy screen in front of her, squinting as she tried to make out the words. It was at times like these that she just wished she could talk with someone. Not about the difficulties _she _was having obviously. But just to talk. Pointless chit-chat. She missed that. She didn't keep any contact with her friends from Lillian, she couldn't risk it. Every now and again she would talk to Kashiwagi but that was about once, maybe twice a month if she really needed to. Just to get an update on how things were on his end. She found her mind wandering as she stared at the blurry words before her.

_Yumi…_She shook her head, sat upright and took out her notes. _Don't do this to yourself Sachiko._

"Argh!" she shook her head again with a little more force. She'd been doing that a lot lately. When things got too much for her and she was feeling under pressure she always found herself thinking of her petite-soeur. She remembered fondly of the times she had spent with Yumi at her summer house and at sports day. How they had danced. How they had sat up most of the night drinking tea and just… talking. Not about anything in particular just mindless chatter. The best kind.

_Maybe someday Yumi, we can be together. If you just find it in your heart to wait a little… _Her thoughts were interrupted when her mobile suddenly went off beside her pulling her back to reality.

Yumi was nearly finished her homework when she looked up at the clock. _5.36. So much for Mizuki-san…Well! Almost time to go. I wonder if they'll think I just left and didn't sit the entire punishment. As long as I don't get another…_She remembered the time Sachiko had made her clean the entire room in the Rose mansion because she had interrupted her in front of the entire meeting and embarrassed her. She smiled to herself. She found herself thinking of her onee-sama a lot recently. America was a long way away. She never found out why Sachiko had decided to leave, but she did wonder if it was her that had to or wanted to go, could she have left her onee-sama behind? _I'm doing it again…I can't keep doing this to myself or to the others. _She couldn't help it. And soon she found herself pulling her mobile out of her bag by one of the straps Sachiko had given to her for her birthday. A little miniature panda. It was supposed to have been a joke but Yumi cherished it and whenever she was missing her, she would take out her mobile and aimlessly roll her most precious gift around in her hand. _Onee-sama…_And before she could think, Yumi had dialed Sachiko's number and heard the dial tone ringing.

_Yumi…_Sachiko lifted her mobile in her hands and watched as the name flashed on and off. Yumi…Yumi…Yumi…Yumi… She closed her eyes and set her mobile back onto the desk in front of her. How could she answer? She didn't know what to say…

She hadn't picked up again. Yumi's heart sunk. Voicemail again. She left a short message trying hard not to stutter or worse, cry. She angrily snapped her phone shut and threw it in her bag before grabbing her books and storming out of the classroom. _She hates me. It's the only explanation. Not once has she picked up._

Sachiko's eyes welled up as she looked at her phone now dark and silent in front of her. The flashing name had gone. She strangely felt a sense of comfort when she even seen Yumi's name. Yet she couldn't bring herself to say it out loud. Her phone suddenly flashed with a message. _Voicemail? _Yumi had rung Sachiko on many occasions after she had left but she had never left a voicemail. The only way Sachiko could bring herself to listen to it was to tell herself that there had to be something wrong. Why else would she leave one now and not before? That… and she so desperately wanted to hear her voice again. It wasn't wise she knew. But she missed it so. Her uneasiness when she had something to ask Sachiko. Her eagerness when Sachiko asked something of _her. _Her surprised squeals and giddiness when Sachiko rung her unexpectedly after school. Or when Sachiko touched her cheek. How she would stutter and mix up her words to say something that was completely incoherent. _She needed to hear that voice. Her Yumi's voice._ She dialed her voicemail and listened to the electronic voice on the other end spell out the number that had called s.l.o.w.l.y. Followed by the latest and best deals to switch to for prepaid mobiles. _Lady would you just shut the…_

"Onee-sama?"

She stopped what she was doing. Everything had stopped. _Yumi? Is that you? _

"Onee-sama I…"

Sachiko's heart screamed. Her head pounded. Without meaning to she began to answer to herself. Her tears flowing freely. _Yumi! Yumi I can hear you!_

"Iii…mm in detention…I mean I uh…argh stupid ss..stupid…"

Sachiko burst out laughing._ Oh Yumi…_

"I'm, I mean, I'm actually…um no well I actually am in detention but uh that's not what I called for…obviously…uh…"

Sachiko smiled widely. Her Yumi was so adorable at times. Always tripping over her own words. She honestly hadn't thought much into it but she had a feeling. No. She knew she made her uncomfortable but she wasn't sure why. She heard Yumi mumble something before she finally spoke again.

"I…I miss you, I know I was selfish and childish and I didn't…listen to you when you tried to explain to me but I just…I need to know why. Is it... I mean was it because of me that you left? I don't know anymore…I just…miss you…no I need you…ugh what am I saying?"

Sachiko's eyes were racing around in a flurry trying to process everything she was hearing and trying to make sense of it.

"I guess I have nothing left to lose do I?"

Sachiko wondered if she was talking to her or to herself at this point.

"I just wanted to say that I miss you and that I …."

[Beep]

"What?" Sachiko looked down at her phone. _No nnnnno no no!!_

"End of messages"

_YOU AGAIN!! This is your fault!! I'm gonna come down there and…_

"Thank you for using KDDI, if wish to add…"

Sachiko snapped her phone shut. She paced her room back and forth in agitation. Should she ring back? _You can't. You told yourself that you were doing this for the best. If you go ringing and you talk to her…_Sachiko cut her thinking short and picked up her phone once again and dialed the number, tapping her foot in anticipation.

"Um yes, hello this is…Ogasawara Sachiko speaking. I was wondering if it might be possible to speak to Kashiwagi Suguru please…..thank you."

"Kashiwagi speaking…"

"It's me." Sachiko said sitting down in front of her dresser. She picked up a picture of her and Yumi. Smiling she nodded to herself in satisfaction.

"Sugu-chan…...I'm coming home"

* * *

Well there ya have it! Hope you guys enjoyed the second chapter because believe me, we're only getting started!

Thanks again for all your reviews I love hearing what you guys think!

Till next time. Which will be soon!

Imotaku2 xx


	3. Sleepless Nights

Disclaimaa!

I DON'T own any of the Mariamite characters (except sachiko, i make sure she gets her 3 meals) jk, unfortunately.

Hey! I can dream! Tis why I'm here! I am also not held responsible if I disturb or permanently damage any person with my HIDEOUS grammar and spelling of french words. What's with that anyway?? Souer, Soeur, Soooeeeaa! (I googled it to be sure...)

Huzzah! Exciting, exciting! I'm taking this time well, last day off work . to update! It's still early and I have a brief plan of the next chapter already so I might just have it up before bedtime! ;)

Enjoy!

* * *

Yumi quietly opened the front door and quickly looked around the entrance hall. _No one's around, thank Maria! _She quickly removed her shoes and slid her slippers onto her feet. Being careful not to draw attention to herself, she made her way towards the stairs to her room.

"Yumi? Is that you?"

Yuuki appeared at the door to the kitchen. _I really really suck at this whole sneaking thing. _

"Yuuki! Hi!" She smiled innocently and dropped her satchel at the foot of the stairs.

"Hi…" he looked at her questionably, "Dinners just ready, you're late."

"Yeah um, about that I got…held up"

"Held up? Let me guess…" Yumi cut Yuuki short . Her eyes widened when her mother popped up behind her brother. Yuuki caught the look and immediately quietened.

"Yumi! What on earth? We expected you home over an hour ago! I was about to call your school to see if everything was okay you had me frightened half to death!!"

Yumi's eyes searched around her. _Think dammit think!_

"Seriously Yumi next time you decide to hang about the Rose mansion let us know okay? I know you have responsibilities as a senior now, but mum has been in hysterics"

Yumi's expression softened as she nodded to her brother. She looked up to her mum who still had a slightly worried look in her eyes.

"Sorry mum, time just got away from me I meant to phone…" She looked back to Yuuki who was nodding his head encouragingly.

"Don't forget next time ne? We worry you know. Come on dinner's just out" Her mother walked back into the kitchen. Yuuki smiled at his sister and winked before following his mother. What did she do to deserve such a caring brother?

Dinner went by pretty peacefully. Her dad asked about her studies and her duties at school in general which Yumi managed to scuffle by without any major displays of aggravation.

After dinner Yumi helped her mum with the dishes before heading to her room. She threw herself on her bed and groaned loudly. She wasn't looking forward to school tomorrow. It was the first time a _teacher_ hadn't made it to detention and she wasn't sure how to go about explaining it if she was asked about it. _I suppose there's no point in worrying about it now anyway, I didn't do anything wrong. If they really want to be a pain about it they can check the surveillance footage. I was there, she wasn't!_ With a satisfactory nod she got up and searched through her drawers for a pair of pyjamas. She felt like she could use an early night and besides, she got all her homework done during detention. She made her way towards her bedroom door, when there was a soft knock from the other side. She opened to find Yuuki leaning against her door frame smiling.

"So…"

"So?"

"Haha don't give me that I covered for you the least you could do is tell me why you were actually late. It couldn't be…._another detention _could it?"

"SShhh! Keep your voice down!" Yuuki let out a hearty laugh.

"It was wasn't it? Two detentions in two weeks Yumi. That's bad. Even for you."

"Look I'm not shifting the blame but I just don't know how to get anything through to Touko-chan! She's always late. She looks a mess when she eventually does show up. And then to top it all off she doesn't seem the slightest bit sincere in her apologies towards me when I bring her up on it! Also.."

"Yumi, have you taken the time to actually consider that it might be something on her end? Something that's the cause of it I mean. _Always_ late. _Always_ messy. I doubt that's her intention. There are plenty of other ways of grating your nerves if that's what you think she's doing."

"Yeah maybe…do you think I should perhaps…talk to her? I don't want to be too pushy or she might withdraw further"

"I think you should show her your concerned and not call her out on it. I mean just mention that she's late but ask if there's anything you can do to help instead of asking her if anything is wrong. You don't want to put your nose where it doesn't belong."

"But shouldn't it? I mean, aren't I supposed to be looking out for her as her onee-sama? If she can't talk to me then who?"

"It'll take time I mean, it's still relatively new to her and to you. It just takes a while before you can trust another so intimately. I'm sure all petite soeurs don't put as much trust in their onee-sama's so quickly at the beginning."

Yumi looked down as her eyes glazed over.

"I…did…" Yuuki looked down at his sister. _Oh man…_

"Yumi I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

"It's okay. Really. I'm over it." She looked up to her brother and smiled. Weakly.

"I'm gonna grab a shower here before bed. I'll see you in the morning."

Yuuki moved to the side, out of his sisters' way. He watched her as she walked down the hall and slowly closed the bathroom door behind her. _Way to go jackass…_

Yumi was thinking of her onee-sama. She often found her mind wandering back to the times they had shared, when she was alone in bed in her dark, quiet room. She sighed and rolled over, drifting off into a deep slumber.

_Yumi had left the noise of the room opposite. She was in a small office in the upstairs of the Rose mansion. Another birthday. Another get together. She loved it when it was everyone together like this. All of the Yamayurikai past and present. Sei however had had a bit too much wine to drink and had involved the others in a quite lively game of twister on the council room floor. Yumi needed some quiet time. She kept glancing over to Sachiko on the other side of the room. She was in a deep conversation with Yoko-sama, probably expressing her concerns of leaving the Yamayuri council in the hands of the Soeurs or something like that. She was graduating. And Yumi was in a foul mood. She didn't know how she was going to get through the rest of her school days without her onee-sama by her side to guide her. She buried her head in her arms and began to sob uncontrollably. She hadn't heard the office door close behind her. She almost jumped out of her skin when she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders._

"_Yumi?"_

_Sachiko! She hadn't heard her come in how the?_

"_Are you crying? Yumi. Tell me is something wrong?"_

"_Onee-sama!" without thinking she had thrown her arms around the former's neck and began crying on her shoulder._

"_Don't leave! Please! I don't want to be alone here!"_

_Sachiko was beyond startled. She put her arms around her petite soeur and rubbed her back affectionately trying to calm her._

"_Yumi…you know you won't be alone? The rest of the Yamayurikai will be here to help you. Don't worry, they'll help you through this."_

_Yumi just shook her head and cried even harder at her onee-sama's words._

"_Yumi…you're a senior now. You have to keep it together for Touko's sake. It's a lot easier than you think. You've grown a lot in the past year. I trust you to carry on with the council and help guide the members. You can do it! I believe in you."_

_Yumi pulled back. Sachiko could see how upset she was. Her eyes were red and irritated, her chest heaving. She'd obviously been in her for longer than she had realized._

"_It's not that! I don't care about all of that!"_

"_YUMI!"_

_Yumi pulled her arms away from Sachiko, causing her to also return her arms to her sides. She looked down at her feet, she couldn't think of what to say. And it certainly wasn't the time to blurt anything silly out. Sachiko continued to look at Yumi, she searched her up and down looking for some kind of clue as to why the girl was in such distress. She certainly couldn't talk to her about it now. She might send the girl overboard._

"_Yumi…let's go back and join the others. It's your party after all. Everyone's here for you."_

"_I don't feel like going back in just yet."_

"_Then let's have a seat and you can tell me what's on your mind"_

_Yumi snorted inwardly. Yeah that's be the day…_

_Sachiko patted the seat beside her._

"_Come on, sit."_

_Yumi obeyed and sat down next to her onee-sama. She jumped a little when Sachiko placed her hand over her own._

"_What's the cause of all this fuss? No one should be this upset on their own birthday."_

"_I'm sorry. I just have…a lot on my mind."_

"_Like…?"_

_Like you leaving. Like me not seeing you everyday. Like how I'm not sure I can be a proper onee-sama without you being here to tell me how to be. Like my being in love with you but not ever EVER being able to tell you so? Yumi began to tear again. She could never tell her onee-sama her true feelings. She was a coward, not worthy. She didn't fancy being laughed at to her face. She'd rather she her every other weekend than possibly never see her again. She looked up to her onee-sama, she saw the agitation building the quieter she became. She'd just have to be honest. To an extent…_

"_I'm going to miss you. That's all."_

"_That's all?"_

_Yumi shifted uncomfortably. She hated how she could do that. She could read her so easily. It was true. Her face was like a book. A book Sachiko knew and could recite. She couldn't hide anything from her, at times like this, it was a curse._

_Sachiko give in. She knew there was something more bothering her soeur, but she couldn't place her finger on it and she didn't want to push the girl, seeing as she was so upset already._

"_Well, if you ever feel lonely…" Sachiko reached into her pocket and produced a small but beautifully wrapped gift box and handed it to Yumi._

"_What is it?" She took the gift from her onee-sama and stared at it with excitement. That had put a smile on her face. Sachiko smiled endearingly at the younger girl._

"_Well open it and see!"_

_Yumi carefully opened the package around the folds, and lifted the lid from the box. Inside was a mobile phone strap with an adorable panda hanging from it._

"_Kawaii!" she smiled widely as she lifted the dangly from it's box and reached into her own pocket for her phone._

"_It's silly I know but when I saw it, it immediately made me think of you and I just had to have it!"_

"_I love it! Thankyou so much!" She threw her arms around her onee-sama, hugging her tightly. Sachiko hugged her back, just as tight. How was she going to tell her now? She decided she couldn't, she didn't want to see Yumi that sad again. But when reality hit her, she realized just how much she was going to miss her. She had to leave. There was no other way. She knew if she stayed she wouldn't be able to stay away from Yumi for long. Not being in the same school just added to the problem. She needed Yumi beside her. She needed her sweet smile, her infectious laugh. It's what got her through her day. It's what made her come to school no matter how awful or tired she felt. Just to see her. She had admitted it to herself not long before. After months of agonizingly denying to herself the truth she finally gave in and accepted it for it was. She loved Yumi. She had for quite some time. And deep down, Sachiko knew it wasn't a sisterly love. It was much much more. That's why she had decided to leave. It had seemed like the right thing to do at the time. The arrangements were made. The transfers were complete. And her new apartment was sitting empty waiting for her arrival. Now she just had to figure out a way of telling Yumi._

"_Onee-sama?" Sachiko was snatched from her thoughts and she looked up at the girl now standing in front of her with a satisfied grin and mobile phone in hand._

"_I think I'm ready to go back!" Sachiko forced a smile and stood up for her soeur. Together they walked back to the council room, hand in hand._

Yumi shot up in her bed._ Another dream. _She wiped the tears from her eyes. _Why does this keep happening to me? Onee-sama why did you do this to me?_ She looked around at her alarm clock. 3.38. She couldn't remember the last time she had had a full nights peaceful sleep.

In the next room Yuuki lay awake. He had noticed from a few months back that Yumi had had a disrupted sleeping pattern. Lately, it had gotten worse. Either he woke to the sound of her screaming, or to the sound of her crying herself back to sleep. He shook his head. _Yumi, it'll get better soon. I promise._

_

* * *

_

I planned to go further with this chapter but I hate progressing stories too far without allowing time for the characters to progress! So alas, you will have to wait until the next chapter for some excitement. And believe me I have some in store for you!

Thanks again for reading and for your awesome reviews! I'll get round to replying but have a feeling you'd rather I use the last of my free time tonight to write another update no?

imotaku2

x


	4. Happy Birthday Yumi

I don't own any of the Mariamite characters. Except in my head!

Whoa! Now seriously this chapter....argh! Frustrating to write! I finished chapter 3 at 9.30pm and promised you chapter 4... tonight! Okay so it's not tonight....here anyways. It is.... 3.31am! Which means it's tomorrow here, so the statement was half-true it is technically still yesterday to some of you...but still the next day here so I might of fibbed but it depends what time the update was in your country cuz it was yesterday yeasterday when i updated...confused? Great! Let's move on.... Well after lot's of editing and lot's or re-wording, the title has now changed. Funny story! Chapter 2 was actually supposed to be titled "last dance" then it moved to chapter 3 etc etc. So yeah I finally wrote it as the title of this chapter and well....you can probably see where I was going with it.

But then I just got so damn excited I continued on writing and well, by the end I wanted to change the title! So.... Long chapter, completely overtook my whole idea of what was going to happen and it just ....happened! Damn my head! So yes this chapter formerly to be known as "Last Dance" (Now dead and buried) is now known as "Happy Birthday Yumi" Hell yes I'm original and I also had a strong urge to title "Happi Basudei Yumi" But figured I might be passed off as drunk and no one would come back. Which I am. Please come back!

Six hours later and a pint of water to go....here is your latest installment. Enjoy!

imotaku2

* * *

Yuuki put the last of the clean dishes in the cupboard. He didn't mind doing the housework. Well recently anyway. He had a feeling Yumi wouldn't appreciate being woke this early seeing as she'd slept that badly last night. He wouldn't admit to her that he had heard her crying throughout the night. He'd almost gotten used to it now. Besides he knew he'd embarrass her and more than likely wouldn't get the actual cause of it out of her. Probably because he already knew and he knew what it meant to her. It was private and not for him to interfere with. Still, he could help her in other ways, and if taking on her side of the chores so she might get at least a few hours of sleep was how he could, then he didn't mind in the slightest. It _was _getting late though, and he didn't want mum and dad getting back before she was out of bed or _they_ might question her. He didn't have a choice.

Yumi awoke to a light tap on her bedroom door. She didn't feel much like getting up. She mumbled something incoherent and tried to nod off back to sleep.

"Yumi! Come on, I know you must be tired but it's getting really late" When there was no response Yuuki opened her door slightly. Her room was dark and stuffy. He entered and closed the door softly behind him. There was no response from his sister. He tiptoed over to the side of her bed and lightly sat on the edge. She was lost to the world.

"….Yumi…mum and dad will be back soon, come down when you get ready, I'll make tea" Still no response. He lightly shook her shoulder.

"I'm coming I swear…."

Yuuki nodded automatically and got up to leave.

"Oh Yumi, I almost forgot, Yoshino called. She said to call her when you get up"

Yumi stirred slightly. She wasn't sure if he was just trying to get her out of bed or if he was being serious, but she managed to sit up slightly in bed.

Yuuki obviously satisfied, left, leaving the door slightly open to let some light into her room.

Yumi searched through her drawers in the gloominess of the room. Not quite knowing what she had in her hands but not quite caring either. After washing up and pulling on clothing that didn't quite colour coordinate she made her way downstairs and into the living room where her brother sat.

"Where's mum and dad?" Yuuki turned round and looked his sister up and down before replying. With a mouthful of…whatever that was.

"Uh…out for shopping they should be back soon."

Yumi grunted and threw herself down on the sofa beside her brother.

"Laundry day?"

"I don't care day, pass me the chips."

Yuuki passed the bag over, his eyes not moving from the flashing screen in front of him.

"What on earth are you watching?"

"Something about the world war. Not sure, there's not much on, although we are watching daytime television."

"Which war?"

"Beats me"

Yumi laughed, snorting on her crisps. The two of them sat for a few more minutes. They listened to the programme but doubted they would be able to recite any of it if asked.

"Oh hey, you should probably call Yoshino back, seemed pretty urgent."

"Oh yeah I forgot." Yumi flung the crisp bag at her brother and flung herself up.

He didn't seem to mind. A few dropped here a few dropped there. He picked them up and stuffed them in his mouth anyway.

When Yumi reached the kitchen she stopped suddenly. Taped to the wall in front of her was a long and colorful banner. "Happy Birthday Yumi"

On the table beside the phone was a small but beautiful little chocolate cake with a single candle poking out the top.

"You spoil everything…" Yuuki walked past her and headed towards the table. Yumi stared at the banner. Her birthday. She had forgotten. How could she forget her own birthday?

"Hai, hai, don't blow them all out at once" Yumi turned towards her brother, he smiled nervously as she looked from the cake to him and back again.

"Make a wish!" Yumi smiled. She had forgotten. Her brother hadn't. Bless him. She enthusiastically sucked in a deep breath, held it for a second. Her eyes purposefully bulging for emphasis, and released it.

"What the?" Yumi looked at her cake dumbfounded. He candle was still lit.

Yuuki's face went red, redder. He couldn't hold it in.

"Haha, yeah sorry bout that. Had to get it, just to see your face!"

Yumi blew at her candle more ferociously. Still lit. Again. To no avail the candle stood, it's flame still flickering back and forth.

"Yuuki!!" He flinced waiting for the blow.

"And I thought you were being nice!!" She laughed as she punched him lightly on the shoulder.

"I achieved what I set out to do!" he laughed in return.

"What? Antagonize me?"

"…I made you smile" Yumi was a bit taken aback. There was definitely something up with Yuuki. Sure, she was actually pretty lucky to have such a caring brother, compared to the horrific stories she had heard from other students in her class. But he was just too…cute? For his own good? Something was up. Yumi had been thinking about it from their last few encounters. He knew more than he let on. She was grateful. But it worried her. Had she been so obvious? And if she had to the extent where she had rubbed off on her own brother. What about the rest of the Yamayurikai? Yumi suddenly felt uneasy. She should call Yoshino.

"Yuuki…thank you. Really. You didn't have to, it's really sweet"

"But…..?"

Damn he's good. Yumi grinned mischievously.

"Buuuuttt…." Yuuki looked a little uncertain, he wasn't sure if he had done something wrong or…

"But seriously, this candle is getting on my nerves! 100yen you can't blow it out!"

Yuuki beamed.

"100? Psh! Make it 5!

"Fine 500, go for it!"

Yumi handed him the cake and sat down with her tea as she watched her brother eagerly suck in his breath and blow with angst. 500 yen wasn't a lot but she smiled as her brother emphasized deep inhalation and over exaggerated exhaling, with wide eyes and deep red cheeks. It certainly wasn't going to work. They both knew it. Trick candles. But she was touched that he first of all remembered her birthday and secondly made such an effort to amuse her on her special day.

"_Ah! Yumi chan! We wondered where you got to! We thought you'd…"_

_Sachiko entered the council room behind Yumi and cut Sei off._

"_I see! Oh well you're back! …Both of you…How about a game?"_

_Sachiko looked to Yumi who also didn't show any enthusiasm._

"_Not right now Sei maybe later…" Sachiko trailed off taking Yumi's hand and leading her across the room to one of the tables. They sat and talked as the others played on. Not long after Yoko-sama joined them at the table._

"_So Yumi-chan! Great party eh?" Yoko smiled at the younger girl._

"_Yeah it's great Yoko-sama! I'm so touched everyone put such effort into it! Really!"_

_Yoko waved her hand in the air, swirling the contents of her glass as she did so._

"_Yeah yeah! Don't be so proper! Let loose! Have a good time! It's not like we're going to remember it anyway!" She laughed loudly, not catching the glare from her soeur._

"_Onee-sama?" Sachiko looked uneasily at her senior._

"_Oh! Pardon my manners! I didn't even realize!" Sachiko sighed a little in relief!_

"_Afterall, you're last night together." She winked at Sachiko._

"_Pardon my intrusion." She picked herself up, unsteadily, and stumbled over towards the table that Rei and Yoshino were sitting at._

_Sachiko wished the ground would just swallow her up whole. Yumi meanwhile watched as Yoko sat and talked with Ray, waving her arms vigorously and laughing deeply. She turned back to her onee-sama with a look of confusion on her face._

"_Last night?"_

_Sachiko shut her eyes and dug her fingernails into the palm of her hands._

"_Onee-sama? …what does she mean last night? As students? She means our last night together in the Yamayurikai?"_

_It couldn't be helped. She had to tell her. She just wished it didn't have to be at the young girls birthday party. And certainly not to her face. Cowardly, maybe. But it would have caused herself less pain._

"_Yumi…I"_

"_YUUMI!!! Wooo! Come on!!! Sei's playing spin the bottle!" _

_Yumi didn't lift her head in acknowledgment, but she could tell it was Yoko from her voice and display of tipsiness earlier._

"_You..? What?" She looked at her onee-sama searchingly, looking for any kind of indication of what was to come._

"_I…" Sachiko cut herself off, she grabbed Yumi's arm and made her way towards the door._

_Yumi trailed behind, she knew what was coming. For once she knew. She saw it in her onee-sama's eyes. Her own eyes began to swell slightly, she wasn't stupid. She could put two and two together. And she knew what it equaled. Last night together equals her without Sachiko. She heard right. She just wanted to hear it. She wanted to hear it out loud. From her…_

"_Yumi I…I mean I'm…"_

"_Leaving" Yumi wanted to scream, but all she managed was a whisper. Sachiko stared at her. How did she know? Had somebody told her? No wait. Only Yoko-sama knew! But…_

"_I said you're leaving" Yumi looked up into her onee-sama's eyes. Sachiko was speechless. A single tear left Yumi's right eye which was swiftly caught by her onee-sama and followed by her hand on her cheek. She stared intently into her eyes. It was now or never._

"_Yumi, I have to go. It's…probably for the best, I mean for both of us."_

"…"

"_I'm not…sure I know how to handle this anymore." Sachiko herself was having difficulty keeping herself together._

"_I'm going to go abroad for a while. I've been accepted into an elite university in America. It's a great opportunity." When she still had no response from Yumi, she decided she'd have to…at least try and make her understand._

"_Listen to me…It's just to clear my head. I've just felt like I need to be…alone for a while."_

"_It's me isn't it? I've put too much responsibility on you haven't I? I can't do anything right!! Please…"_

"_Yumi…"_

"_Please! Just…if you stay, I promise I'll try harder I mean…you'll be at university! I won't even talk about Touko or…or the Yamayuri council you won't have to hear about any of it! Please! just…"_

"_It's you Yumi, it's not this place, it's not anybody else…I just, don't think I can be a good example to you if I'm feeling like…this"_

"_Me?" Yumi searched Sachiko's face. Disgust? Apprehension? No. Nothing…She couldn't read her. She couldn't figure her out. Not now, not at this particular moment. She just looked, pained._

"_Yes… you. I think, I'm not setting a good example, I worry if you become like this then with Touko you will…"_

"_Don't be ridiculous! You've taught me to be everything that I am! I'm nothing without you! I…I thought I was ready..." Yumi shook her head. Sachiko reached forward and pulled her into her arms. _

"_You're very ready Yumi. You've grown so much as a person and that's none of my doing. Everyone adores you, and soon, when she comes to realize it, Touko will adore you as I do."_

_Yumi had reached her breaking point, she cried endlessly into Sachiko's arms. The laughter from the adjoining room faded out. It was just them. Alone in this quiet room, with nothing but the sound of her._

_What seemed like hours later Yumi sniffled and lifted her arm to wipe away her tears. Her sleeve was seemingly already wet. She must have wiped her face earlier. When she looked up she saw Sachiko purposefully divert her gaze. Her eyes red and bloated. She'd misjudged her. _

_She didn't want to go anymore than I wanted her to. Yumi thought._

_But for some reason unbeknown to me, she had to. She'd tried to explain why, but she couldn't…form it into words. It's not my place to pressure her. Surely she will tell me in her own time?_

_Yumi pushed herself away from her onee-sama, causing Sachiko to look back at her._

_That song…_

"_Onee-sama?"_

_Sachiko lifted her head. That song…she recognized it instantly._

"_Yumi…?" She reached out her hand towards her soeur. Yumi placed her hand in hers, giggling nervously. Sachiko smiled as she pulled the girl closer. _

"_Close your eyes" Yumi did as she was told. _

_Sachiko leaned forward. She placed her hand around the girls waist, her head upon her shoulder, and shifted slightly in rhythm to the muffled song playing through the wall._

"_Dance with me"_

_Yumi felt the blood instantly rise to her cheeks, giving her a vibrant rose colour to her cheeks. Sachiko felt the heat from her soeur on her neck. She smiled inwardly. It was times like these she was going to miss the most._

"_I can feel it…" Yumi looked up at her onee-sama still dazed in the moment._

"_Feel what?"_

"…_dum dum, dum dum," She patted her hand on her soeurs back for emphasis._

_Yumi's blush deepened if that was possible._

"_I guess I'm…nervous…"_

"_Because of me?" Sachiko pulled her head back slightly to gauge her soeurs reaction._

"_Because this might be…our last…dance…"_

_Sachiko stopped, pulling herself from Yumi's grasp. _

"_Yumi look at me." Yumi sheepishly looked up to her onee-sama meeting her eye to eye._

"_This may be our dance but it most certainly will not be our last"_

_Yumi felt her heart rate pick up, her left leg twitch. She nodded in agreement._

_Sachiko grabbed her soeur and wrapped her in a warm embrace. Her head resting on Yumi's._

"_We'll dance again, together… I promise"_

"Yuuumi!"

Yumi turned round to see her brother at the entrance to the kitchen.

"Everything okay?"

Yumi beamed at her brother.

"Of course I am, I was just about to call Yoshino, I'll be quick I promise"

Yuuki shook his hand.

"No no, I don't need the phone, just hadn't heard any fumbling or clutter, thought you'd finally managed to grasp the concept of gravity slash Yumi. Not so great together, but oh so fun to witness!" Yumi lifted a cup to throw at her brother. He quickly backed away.

"Easy! Easy! Porcelain breaks easily! Especially other peoples FACES!"

"OUT!"

He laughed as he left. When he reached the sofa he sat down and sighed, he'd tried to use the phone for the past ten minutes and all he got was a busy tone. She'd had it off the hook. Who she was trying to phone he didn't know. And it was probably best not to ask.

Yumi finally replaced the phone on the hook before lifting it again to finally dial. She typed in Yoshino's number and waited through the dial tone.

"Moshi mooossh!"

"Yoshino it's me, Sorry about earlier, Yuuki said you phoned?"

"Ah! Happi basudei to you happi basudei to you!"

Yumi laughed and mumbled something incoherent down the phone to her friend.

"What?"

"Nothing nothing, so what's up?"

"….Are you kidding me? We're going out tonight! Out!"

"Ah…right, I'm not sure if…"

"Don't be stupid! It's your birthday! And you know what the best part is?"

"Erm…it's my birthday?"

"Haha…nnnno. Think about it! We're seniors now! Fun fun fun!"

"Okay, fine, when and where?"

"Don't worry you're little head about it! Sei-sama is picking me and Rei up and we're coming straight over to yours!"

"Sei?? I thought it was just us two?"

"Well…..it was….supposed to be, but ya know something came up and erm, well ya know how these things go…."

"Not really, enlighten me"

"Well, I mentioned and Rei wanted to go and then well, we needed a lift so Rei suggested Sei so ya know….yeah. But hey! Ya know what they say, 4's company, 5's a crowd!"

"Actually I'm pretty sure it's 2's company…"

"Well gotta go! Pick ya up at 6! Oh oh oh! And wear something….nice!"

"Yoshino!...."

"Mata ne!"

The line went dead and Yumi replaced the phone on the hook. She grumbled loudly as Yuuki entered the kitchen.

"Going out?"

"Yeah…"

He lifted two glasses down and poured out some cola.

"Yoshino's idea?"

"Hmm…I've a feeling it might have been Sei's…"

"I have some boxing gloves and a rugby helmet if you need it"

"You're always there when I need you most Yuuki" they both laughed as he sat down and placed the glass of cola in front of her.

"Wanna come?"

"I think I'll pass…."

"Oh come on! It'll be ….fun."

"Uh huh, I'm more afraid Kashiwagi will be there, that guy gives me the heebie jeebies!"

"I'm sure you affect him quite… profoundly also"

"UHH!! Did you have to? It's really hard being around him as it is"

Yumi laughed, snorting some of her cola.

"I'm sure he says the same thing Yuuki, the exact same thing"

"Yumi!"

"It's Sei I swear!"

"Uh huh! I think I'll definitely pass on tonight then!"

Yumi giggled as he left the kitchen. She honestly didn't know what was in store for her tonight but she found herself not caring as much.

Yumi turned from side to side as she looked at herself in the mirror. Plain and simple. But she liked it. A simple white cotton dress with a little less around the edges. Unfortunately Yoshino hadn't stated _what_ she should dress in just that it should be _nice_.

To Yumi that could be a lot of things so best to keep it simple. She threw a little grey shawl over her shoulders. When the light hit it, it's tone changed to more of a shimmery silver. Maybe a little over the top, but best to be prepared. She can easily remove it if she's overdressed.

She came down the stairs to meet her parents at the entranceway.

"Yumi you look…beautiful!"

Her hair was clipped back with butterfly clips. Their wings sparkled purples and blues.

"It's not too much?"

"You look simply gorgeous" he dad grabbed her in a bear hug.

"Yuuki! Yuuki come see your sister before she leaves!"

…..

"Yuuki??"

"He must be away out…" Yumi's dad stated but looked as confused as her mother.

"It's okay I'll see him tomorrow, he already wished me a happy birthday anyway"

"Still…I didn't hear him go out…" Her mum looked to her dad.

"He'll be fine. Well I'm off, I'll phone you later to let you know when I'll be back, I doubt I'll be out too late."

"Don't be silly, just let us know if you are coming back or staying at Yoshino's, you tend to forget to let us know."

"I will mum, but I'll probably be coming home anyway"

A horn sounded from the street and Yumi kissed her parents goodbye. Opening the front door she waved at the car in front of her. Closing the door behind her she made her way down the pathway and climbed in the back.

"Yumi-chan! Happy birthday!"

"Happy birthday!"

They all chanted in unison.

"Hai, hai go!" She waved her hand and tuned for her seatbelt. _Such a fuss…_

"So where are we going anyway?" Yumi looked at her friends around her.

Sei laughed and Rei looked in the mirror back to Yoshino who was seated beside Yumi.

"We're off for dinner Yumi, you haven't eaten have you?"

"Nnn" she shook her head.

"Grreat! Well it's this new Chinese restaurant in town! Great reviews!" Yumi smiled and nodded her head trying to seem enthusiastic.

_This time last year…_

"I hope you don't mind. Word got about, you know how it is! But a few others are coming! It won't be too crowded though!"

Yumi twirled her panda about in her hands.

"Tables reserved so no complaining now!" She laughed nervously.

_A whole year…_

The rest of the journey went by pretty normally. Rei arguing with Yoshino. Yumi clutching onto the hand rest as Sei managed to somehow miss the curbs and skid around the corners pulling her handbrake. Needless to say when they reached the restaurant, Yumi was the first out of the car.

"Well this is it!" Yoshino climbed out of the passenger side behind Yumi and looked up at the sign in front of her.

"I hope it's okay, Touko really put a lot of effort into organizing all of this!"

Yumi swung around forcefully.

"Touko-chan! She did all of this? So…that's why she's been…"

"Yup!" Yoshino beamed as reality hit Yumi.

_Touko…that silly, silly girl! What on earth was she thinking? All those mornings she arrived late, her scruffy appearance, unkempt hair_. She was touched to know that her soeur went to all that trouble but honestly she wished that she hadn't put her through all of that trouble.

"Ready to go!? Tonight will be a night to remember we promise!" Sei winked at her, which made Yumi slightly uneasy.

As the four of them made their way into the restaurant, Sei took the lead, directing them towards their table beside the far wall.

Sei made some kind of announcement. With Yoshino in the background, rhyming of the names of the people at the table. Shimako, Noriko, Eriko, Yoko, Touko, Kashiwagi, Yuuki….

Yumi suddenly felt sick, her head spinning, as the others sat down.

She stood before the only seat left at the table.

Staring, unable to form words. Her throat dry, itchy… her head humming with the sound of her heartbeat in her ears.

Only one person could do this to her. One person. And that person, was sitting before her.

_Onee-sama…_

Sachiko smiled warmly at Yumi.

"Happy Birthday Yumi"

* * *

Go on faint! I could have swore she was going to faint...

Well that's chapter 4 for ya! Hope ya enjoyed it.

More to come altho not tonight/this morning. Hopefully sweet sweet Sachiko dreams.

Night everyone! Hope you enjoyed! Fell free to comment...

imotaku2 xx


	5. Hisashiburi

Hello? Anyone here? Echo...echo ...o...

Only joking guys! I have to apologize for the absurdly long absence of...me. My fault for starting this before my exams gomen! Anyways between studying and work it's been pretty hectic lately! I had to travel to London for one of them. Ridiculous! Alas I am back and currently writing the next few chapters. ALSO! I went back and fixed up some of the last chapters there, a few spelling mistakes, nothing major just little things that nagged me like HE instead of SHE, simple error but confuses the hell outta alot people! Lol !! Possibly the rating of the story in later chapters! ;)

Also fixed the flashback of Sachiko and Yumi, as i kinda wrote it down, as you do, as to how it was playing out in my head and didn't really put a lot of reference as to who was speaking clearly enough. My sincerest apologies! Fixed it up a bit!

Anyways enough of my rambling you've waited long enough. Here is your next chapter! Hope you enjoy!

OH! DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the maria characters. I wish i did blah blah blah sachikos hot, you know the drill.

* * *

The restaurant seemed to be in silence. Her friends stared at her. She could see them. Gauging her reaction maybe? They knew she was coming, they arranged this. Was it some kind of torture? Was it all a big joke? She half expected a guy to jump out from behind the curtain with a camera and announce she was on a reality tv show. But no, she was back, Sachiko was here, in Tokyo. In front of her. Why was she smiling like that? Did she find this funny? Amusing perhaps? God only knew.

_Why did i leave that message?? ARGH! I'm so stupid! Look at her face! That's not a smile that's a grin! She's enjoying this. First she leaves me and then comes back unannounced. And as usual I'm the last to hear about anything! I'm her soeur! No. I was her soeur. What am i saying? Just...stay calm. You can get through this. She must have her reasons. But will she actually voice them? Or keep me in the dark as always? It's been too long. This doesn't even feel...right._

"Yumi?" Sachiko looked at Yumi concerned. She'd been standing there a while.

"Uhh...sorry..." She took her seat quickly, trying her best not to make eye contact with the girl in front of her.

"Ah Yumi-chan! Don't be so nervous! You can act excited you know!" Touko looked from Sachiko to Yumi and back again in confusion. Obviously this wasn't playing out the way she had seen it in her head.

"Yumi has no reason to be nervous around me Touko-chan." Sachiko stated quite matter of factly. Inside she was screaming.

"I'm sorry. I'm just...surprised. I didn't...I had no clue..." Yumi had said this more to her onee sama than to any of the others.

Sachiko nodded to Yumi with an understanding look and lowered her head to look at the menu. They had to talk. This is the exact thing she hoped _wouldn't_ happen when she returned and she didn't quite know what she could say to make things better.

Yumi looked up to her brother who quickly flashed an apologetic look and lowered his head also. She was being the party pooper at her own party and she quickly realized she was making the others uncomfortable. She knew what she had to do. Make conversation. She didn't exactly want to. She wanted answers. She wanted a reason. THE reason. Sachiko had never actually told her why she had left. Just that it had had something to do with her. But what? Would could possibly have made her own onee sama, the most cherished, most precious person to her, want to fly to the other side of the world? And what did it have to do with her? Obviously she didn't hate her or she wouldn't have came all the way back just for her birthday. For that she had to show some kind of gratitude. It was the least she could do.

"Thank you" Yumi blurted out. Sachiko looked up to her soeur.

Yumi wasn't making eye contact in fact she didn't seem to mean what she had just said at all.

"For?" Sachiko glared at her. She may not be looking back at her but she was damn well making sure Yumi knew she was staring.

"For coming here today. It must have been hard with you're studies and all. So...thank you." She lifted a glass of water from in front of her and took a sip. Sachiko just stared at her.

_What? That's it? What about all of those phone calls? What about that message? Did you not mean any of it? She couldn't... there's definitely something wrong here. She sounded so...Yumi on the phone. Does that even make sense? Sounded so Yumi? But she did, she was my Yumi exactly as she had always been and now... I have to talk to her. I have to talk to her alone._

"Yes well..." Sachiko trailed off....God what could she even say to that?

"Yeah..." Yumi watched the ice cubes swirling around in the water.

Everyone shifted uncomfortably. No hugs. No "Oh how I've missed you! How are you!?" Yuuki looked at Touko. She was staring at Sachiko and Yumi, her eyes beginning to swell. Things were not going to plan. This was certainly not how anyone expected to be spending their evening. But standing up and leaving or excusing themselves would make too much of a scene. Especially in a restaurant full of people.

Yumi looked up at the others. No one was talking. Just occasionally looking up to either her or Sachiko. They were probably afraid of interrupting or just surprised at how it was playing out. None of them seemed to be enjoying themselves. Yumi felt somewhat responsible. But she just didn't know how she should react. It was all fine and good when Sachiko was, wherever she was and Yumi could just ponder the reasons why she had left. Or call her, knowing she wouldn't answer. Or write to herself in her diary listing things she could say if, one day, Sachiko did answer the phone. But now here she was. Just a little over a metre away. Looking directly at her. Yeah...too much.

"I'm sorry I need the bathroom!"

Yumi shot up and pushed her chair back forcefully, screeching it's legs across the floor and causing a few of the patrons to look over curiously. Sachiko shook her head. This is not how she thought the night would go. Yumi was upset and she needed to console her. If she would let her.

"I'm sorry, Please excuse me" Sachiko politely nodded and set her napkin on the table before following in the direction of Yumi. She thought she could hear a sigh of relief from the others as she left the table.

Sachiko glanced over at the table she had left just moments ago, no sign of Yumi there either. So she wasn't in the toilets, not in the cloakroom, not at the bar and they hadn't passed one another. Sachiko suddenly felt desperate. She had obviously left...but she couldn't be that far away. She ran out of the restaurant and instinctively went right. Why? She just...felt it. Like all other things Yumi. She just knew. What she didn't know is where it would take her, or where Yumi could be going to. She just followed, knowing she would find her. She always did.

Sei looked around the table. Not much conversation had passed in the last 5-10 minutes. So, she did all she could think of. Ordered a few bottles of wine and occasionally offered some meaningless topic of conversation, all of which had so far been passed off with a yes or no answer all around. If Sachiko and Yumi didn't sort things out and get back soon, they were in for a long night.

"Terrible weather lately..." A few mumbles and nods of agreement followed.

Sachiko reached an intersection, stopping at the lights. She took a few seconds to catch her breath. Her chest burned and she had a cramp in her stomach. It had been a while since she had had to attend gym at Lillian. Knowing she couldn't wait much longer she watched for the next break in traffic and shot carelessly across the road. If Yumi got away without her having a chance to speak with her, she didn't think she would be able to work up the courage to tell her again. When she finally reached the next set of lights, she heard the loud crashing sound of water over the traffic. Directly in front of her she could see the top of a large water fountain. It was the entrance to a public park and that's where she was headed.

"Youko sama? Do you think we did the right thing? Maybe we should have told her first before we brought her here?" Touko hadn't said much since Sachiko and Yumi had disappeared.

"She'll be fine. Besides do you think she would have actually have come if we had told her?"

"...."

Youko smiled reassuringly. "Touko...Sachiko knows Yumi better than all of us"

Yuuki looked up as if he was about to protest but thought better of it when he caught Sei's look.

"They'll be fine. Don't worry"

Sachiko stopped in front of the fountain and looked around the benches. No sign of her. Maybe her instincts weren't as accurate as they used to be. Perhaps she had been away too long. She threw herself down on one of the benches and buried her face in her hands. Now what? Should she call her? She doubted she would pick up but it might be worth a shot. She groaned inwardly and grabbed her hair in her fists. She'd made a mess of this whole situation. For once she wasn't sure if she was going to be able to make things right this time. Lost in her thoughts Sachiko didn't hear the sobs coming from behind the fountain. How could she with the water loudly crashing to the pool below it.

"Maybe we should just call it a night guys..." Sei wasn't the only one getting impatient. It wasn't exactly a birthday party without the birthday girl present.

"Yuuki I'll drive you home" Kashiwagi looked at the younger boy. He looked worried.

" I'm sure Yumi's with Sachiko" Youko added reassuringly.

"I don't think mum and dad would be happy if I came home without Yumi"

"Hey hey it'll be fine if Sachiko couldn't find her it's probably because she jumped in a taxi or something. She's probably at home in bed Yuuki" Sei winked at the young boy feeling sorry for him. It wasn't like Yumi to just go off without letting anyone know where she was going.

"I'll get the bill" Youko rose from her seat to leave.

"Let me" Kashiwagi winked at her and patted Yuuki on the back. Yoshino and Rei looked at one and other, they hadn't said much the whole night and it was obvious to the rest of them that they were eager to get on the road and out looking for Yumi. She had not been picking up her mobile.

"Stupid....stupid...." Sachiko shook her head furiously and rose to her feet. She could only think that Yumi had went home. She obviously just wanted to be on her own. Sachiko cursed herself for going off on a wild goose chase when it would have made more sense to check her house first.

"Where are you Yumi?" she said aloud before turning to leave.

Yumi lifted her head. _Onee sama..?_ She stood up slowly and made her way around the fountain.

Walking towards the entrance to the park was Sachiko.

How had she found her? Had she been there the whole time? Without thinking or even knowing what to say Yumi called out without realising it.

"Onee sama!"

Sachiko turned and saw Yumi standing at the side of the fountain where she had just been. She turned fully so she was now facing her.

_Yumi...I knew. I knew I'd find you._

_Now what? She followed me all the way here and I can't think of what to say? God Yumi she must think you're so childish for running out and leaving everyone behind. But it was all just too much. Everyone there. Watching me. Hanging on my every word. Well here we are. Alone. Now what?_

Sachiko glared intently at her soeur.

_Tell her. You've almost lost her twice now. Just tell her and this will all be over. Maybe things will go back to some sense of normal between us again. I can figure it all out later if i just....say it._

Yumi looked desperately at Sachiko. She was waiting for her to say something. Anything. She was the one who always got her through times like this. Any time she was troubled or confused, Sachiko was standing at her side. She was her pillar of support, the one person she could rely on. So why wasn't she saying anything?

Sachiko watched a spread of emotions play across Yumi's face. Anger, hurt, confusion, love? She was lost. There was only thing she could think to do. She walked towards her. Was that fear? Or surprise? It was hard to tell. But as soon as she got close enough she threw out her arms and grabbed Yumi, pulling her into a long awaited embrace. And that was it. She let it all out.

Yumi stared at the night sky. She held her onee sama close as she poured her heart out crying for what seemed like an eternity. It was something she couldn't comprehend.

Without any knowledge of the circumstances or reasons why it had come to this, Yumi stood there and let her cry. She wasn't exactly sure of what she could do, but she knew that just being there helped. It was a very rare occasion when Ogasawara Sachiko let her emotions flow freely. And on this occasion, Yumi didn't know the cause of it. What she did know was that it was a very special moment, and she felt utter stupidity for thinking that there was any way that Sachiko could have hated her. It was in that moment that she realized they still had a very unique bond. To put it simply she loved her onee sama, she had from the first moment she saw her. Deep down she knew Sachiko loved her in return. She just didn't yet realize how much.

It would only be a matter of time...

* * *

Well that's it for this chapter hope you guys weren't disappointed! Just because I haven't been writing much lately doesn't mean i wasn't trying to plan the story out ;)

Thanks to everyone who has left reviews, I really appreciate the feedback! And thanks for reading of course! Until next chapter....

Imotaku2 x


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